


omni gladio ancipiti

by lifevolutionary



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Psychic Bond, Telepathy, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-20
Updated: 2010-07-20
Packaged: 2017-10-10 16:59:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/102021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifevolutionary/pseuds/lifevolutionary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The archangel Gabriel had never chosen a Bearer for his sword. Until now.</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The edited and very extended version of <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/90685">Choosing You.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	omni gladio ancipiti

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Banner, who helped me plan out some ideas for where this fic should go.
> 
> The original ficlet has been edited and used as the beginning of this fic, therefore you don't need to read that first and if you have read it already, that's why the first bit seems familiar.
> 
> Set between 5x08 and 5x18
> 
> The title is Latin for 'double-edged sword' (I hope).
> 
> If you spot any errors please point them out as this is unbeta'd.
> 
> A podfic of OGA is avaliable [here](http://community.livejournal.com/amplificathon/890832.html), read by the awesome Kalakirya

Every angel had many blades; each with its own purpose. Many tools for many jobs because they all fought, even the messenger.

An angel only had one Sword. Rarely seen and even more infrequently used; it was less a weapon and more an extension of angelic self.

When an angel or his chosen Bearer wielded the blade, it lit with holy fire and gave protection from all lesser weapons. Only one Bearer could be chosen per angel.

The archangel Gabriel had never chosen a Bearer for his sword. Until now.

There had never been a human Bearer. Until now.

~*~

Sam was about to be overpowered by almost a whole nest of demons when it happened. The few that weren't surrounding him were keeping Dean and Cas busy and Sam had lost the knife somewhere over the other side of the room.

It was pretty much the definition of screwed six ways from sideways but Sam had never been any good at giving up gracefully. He reached behind himself trying to find something, anything to use as a weapon even though he knew that anything he found would be useless.

One moment there was nothing, the next his hand closed around something that felt suspiciously, amazingly like a sword hilt. Sensation rushed up his arm, a flood of familiarity, belonging, home, _mine_ and he swung the blade up and round before he was even conscious of making the decision. It felt like instinct and muscle memory that Sam knew he didn't have but he didn't have time to worry about it because there was fire racing up and covering the blade.

A flaming sword. He was wielding a _flaming sword._ What the _fuck?_

The demons shied back as if they were all being operated by the same puppet master and Sam was aware of a word hissed in disgust and fear, flying through their rank. Bearer, bearer, _bearer._ He wondered what it meant.

That it apparently meant _run like hell_ became evident as a flood of black smoke and falling vessels signalled the departure of the demons. Sam stared, meeting Dean's confused expression through the clearing smoke.

When he moved onto Cas' absolutely pole-axed one the familiar feeling of 'something really important had just happened and he didn't understand it at all' solidified.

Unfortunately Sam knew his life well enough realise that everything had just got infinitely more complicated.

~*~

The moment Sam's hand closed on the hilt of his Sword, Gabriel felt it.

He didn't realise what it was at first. Just registered a weird, itching hum at the back of his brain and a sudden strange sense of completeness.

He snapped himself away from the womaniser he'd just finished making impotent, a trickster/archangel had to do something to keep himself occupied while the Apocalypse happened, and flung himself in the direction of the oddness. Giving his wings a stretch for once.

It wasn't until he'd landed (still undetectable, he wasn't stupid) in a room containing little brother Castiel, who looked like you could knock him down with a feather, Dean Winchester, who just looked confused and Sam Winchester, who was wielding Gabriel's _actual fucking Sword_ that he realised what the tingling in the back of his mind was. It was the call of his Bearer.

Okay, _what?_

Choosing a Bearer for your Sword was the most intimate bond an angel could create save a marriage bond. There could only ever be one and it was pretty damn permanent. Gabriel had never wanted to be tied to anyone that way, so he'd never chosen.

He watched Sam shift his gaze from Cas to the Sword in his hands, stunned silent.

Apparently Gabriel had chosen now, though he hadn't meant to do it. He'd accidentally bonded himself for life to a human. He'd made a _human_ the Bearer of his Sword. Gabriel couldn't quite get his mind around that, it was too big, too sudden. He had to keep looking at idea side on, trying to comprehend the fact that the Lucifer's true vessel was wielding his Sword, a weapon that was essentially a piece of Gabriel's soul.

Gabriel had thought he had better control over his powers than to let that happen, but then, he'd never been very good at controlling himself when it came to Sam, so maybe he should have expected this.

He briefly considered snapping himself visible and demanding the Sword back but he knew it was pointless. Now the Sword had bonded with Sam it would go to him whenever he had need of it and there was nothing Gabriel could do about that.

He tilted his head as he considered the implications, unconsciously imitating Castiel's now thoughtful expression. Maybe it was better this way; at least now he didn't have to worry about Sam getting himself killed when Gabriel wasn't there to save him.

He didn't even try to deny to himself that he'd been worrying; if he hadn't been the Sword never would have gone to Sam in the first place. Oh yeah, Gabriel was still absolutely screwed in that sense, but this mistake might actually work to his advantage after all.

He'd have to watch and see how things turned out. It might even be entertaining.

~*~

Dean was the first one to break the silence. Cas had one of those expressions on his face that meant he was thinking Deep Thoughts and Sam's brain was still stuck on a closed loop of 'What the fuck? This can't be good'.

"Would someone like to explain to me what the hell just happened."

Sam pulled himself together enough to speak. "I'd kind of like to know that myself."

"Well you're the one who just pulled a flaming sword out of freaking nowhere. Which you're still holding, by the way. You want to put that down?"

Sam stared at him blankly for a moment before what Dean said actually registered. He moved over to a table that had managed to remain standing and laid the sword down, wondering if it would char the wood. It didn't.

As soon as Sam stopped touching it, the flames died and the sword was just silvery metal; nothing to indicate that a moment ago it was on fire. Dean tentatively reached out a hand to touch the hilt and Sam was a fraction of a second away from yelling at him to stop when Cas beat him to it.

"Do not touch it." Cas grabbed Dean's wrist and pulled him back. "It is not meant for you, it will burn you up."

Dean turned to frown at him, "It'll what? Cas, do you know what this is?"

"It is an archangel's Sword." Cas said solemnly. They both stared at him. Sam really hoped he hadn't heard that right and not just because audible capital letters were never a good sign.

"A what?" He asked but was drowned out by Dean speaking over him.

"An archangel. You don't mean...?" Dean trailed off, giving Cas an uncharacteristicly pleading look.

"Yes Dean," Cas' voice was overly serious even for him. Sam wondered if either of them was ever going to get round to explaining anything to the guy in the room who wasn't part of the weird telepathic couple-speak thing they had going on. "The Sword belongs to Gabriel."

For Sam, the world whited out at that revelation. He thought he should be hearing Dean swearing but he couldn't past the roaring in his ears and the sudden rush of _hate, lust, anger, amusement, resentment, safe, danger, mine_ that flooded through him; emotion and memory and instinct all warring to control his dominant reaction to the archangel's name. His awareness came back to the sound of Dean's voice.

"What's it doing here? And how come Sam can touch it and I can't?"

Castiel looked half perplexed, half pissed off, it was the first time Sam had seen that expression when it wasn't caused by something Dean had done. "No-one can touch the Sword of an archangel except the archangel in question and his or her chosen Bearer." Sam jerked.

"Bearer? That's what the demons said, what they called me."

"It is what you are." Cas didn't look like he was paying attention to what he was saying. Like he was speaking on autopilot while trying to figure something out. "You are now the chosen of an archangel. What I cannot figure out is why."

"Thanks." Sam snarked back before he could stop himself. Dean rolled his eyes but it did jerk Cas' attention back into the here and now long enough for him to give Sam a baffled _What?_ look, before he apparently decided to ignore it as another sign of human weirdness and went back to looking perplexed.

"What benefit could Gabriel possibly gain by binding himself to you in this way? Unless he has decided to aid us-" Dean cut Cas off.

"Yeah, like that's ever going to happen."

Sam re-ran Cas' question through his mind and smacked head first into one very unsettling word. "What do you mean, 'binding' himself to me?" He asked warily.

"There may only ever be one Bearer chosen per angel, in all of that angel's life. It cannot be undone or transferred."

Sam just gaped at him. Dean apparently missed how much of a bombshell Cas had just dropped on them because his next question didn't even make a passing reference to the fact that Sam now appeared to be _bonded for life_ to an archangel turned trickster.

"You said angel, not archangel. Does that mean you've got one of these Swords?" Dean gestured to the not-flaming-at-the-moment Sword still sitting innocently on the table.

"I do."

"So why have you never used it. It looked like it was a pretty kick ass demon deterrent and we need all the fire power we can get."

Cas shifted his shoulders slightly which Sam had come to realise meant that the angel was uncomfortable. "I have not been able to manifest it since I rebelled."

"But Gabriel can still manifest his? Hasn't he rebelled too?" Sam asked, unable to stop himself. He had always been far too fascinated with anything to do with Gabriel.

"Gabriel is considerably more powerful than I. He will have been able to retain a much greater portion of his power, even after a much longer absence from Heaven." A case in point for Sam being too fascinated with Gabriel was that right now, he could imagine Gabriel's response to that admission from Cas perfectly. The Gabriel in his imagination twirled a finger in front of his face and said 'archangel' in a pointedly smug voice.

"Okay, as fascinating as this is, we need to be getting out of here. What are we going to do with the damn thing?" Dean gestured at the Sword again. Cas frowned at him but didn't comment on the swearing.

"An angel can will his Sword to his hand and away from himself with a thought. Perhaps if Sam picks it up again and...concentrates on not needing it any more?" Cas didn't sound very sure.

"I'd rather not try picking up something that will burn me to a crisp." Sam drifted closer to the Sword anyway, something about it made him really want to pick it up and it was freaking him out rather.

"It will not." Now Cas sounded sure, in fact, he was using his humans-are-idiotic voice. "You are it's Bearer. That is not in question; your status is now inscribed on your soul and obvious to those who can see such things. The issue is whether you have the instinctive mental discipline required to banish it properly."

Sam rolled his eyes and reached for the Sword's hilt. Ignoring Dean's worried "Hey!" he wrapped his fingers around the cool metal and lifted it, watching the flames rush up the blade again. Turning his attention inwards, Sam tried to pin down his awareness of the Sword so he could manipulate it. He could feel it in the back of his mind but when he concentrated on it it didn't feel at all like he'd thought it would. When he managed to make the Sword disappear from his hand it felt less like banishing it and more like...sending it back to Gabriel.

Before Sam could figure out how he felt about that Dean clapped his hands together with fake joviality. "Right then gang. Can we please go now? Before the cops turn up and we have to escape from another police station?"

Sam made a face, one which he knew Dean would classify as a bitchface, and turned to leave, bending to retrieve Ruby's knife as he did so.

"Great." Dean said, still keeping up the fake cheerfulness. "And Sammy, if you could not magic up any more weird angel weapons out of thin air that would be brilliant."

Sam flipped him off without looking round and really hoped he was imagining the echo of Gabriel's laughter.

~*~

Sometimes Sam really loathed Zachariah. Most of the time he just hated the bastard, because it was hard to keep up a proper loathing when he had more immediate bad guys to worry about, but when the ass-hole sent five of his angel goons after them, then Sam could spare the mental space for a good, strong loathing.

One of them was holding Dean. Sam tried not to let his brother's yelling and struggling distract him from trying to fend off the one attempting to kill him. The other three were circling Cas.

Sam spun away from a knife blow and came close enough to hear what the angel pining Dean was saying.

"Desist struggling, Dean Winchester or I will be forced to harm you. Your companions may be under a death sentence but Michael would prefer you intact."

"I'll show you a death sentence, you winged bastard!"

Sam didn't get to her the rest of Dean's threats because the next blow from the angel attacking him forced him to drop and roll.

"You will stop running away, abomination." The angel growled at him. When Sam just sneered at him, he smiled evilly. "You will wish you hadn't forced me into this, vessel of Satan."

Sam rolled his eyes as the angel vanished his angel-blade. "Will you quit it with the name calling, it's really not..." A Sword manifested in the angel's hand and rushed with flame. "...necessary." Sam backed away, the angel didn't let him get very far. With a satisfied expression he swung the Sword at Sam's head.

The look of shock on his face as his swing was blocked by an equally fiery blade would be immensely satisfying for Sam later when had time to appreciate it. Now he used the angel's shocked stillness at the sight of an 'abomination' bearing an archangel's Sword to shove the angel's attack aside and run him through. Sam yanked the Sword free as the angel's eyes lit up in death and then ran to help Cas.

Sam caught one of Cas' attackers by surprise, slashing the blade through the angel's neck as he tried to sneak up on Cas. The shock of one of their number falling to Sam's Sword allowed Cas to release his blade, that had been locked with that of one of the attackers, and move to stand at Sam's back. They circled, each keeping their attacker in sight but aware of guarding each other's back.

When the angel in front of Sam attempted to exchange his blade for his Sword Sam used the distraction to attack. With one swing he caught the angel's sword arm, making him drop the blade, with the next he swung the Sword in an arc, taking advantage of the skill he shouldn't have to shove the Sword straight through the angel's heart.

Turning, Sword raised in preparation, Sam grinned at the sight in front of him. Cas pulled his blade from his attacker's throat and let the body fall to the floor, Dean, who'd finally managed to throw the angel trying to hold him, had snatched up the angel's own blade and was now viciously twisting it into the angel's chest.

Once Dean was back on his feet he glared at the still flaming Sword in Sam's grasp. "I thought we'd agreed you weren't going to use that thing?"

"I didn't exactly summon it deliberately." Sam sent the Sword back to Gabriel and then folded his arms. "It was kind of a life or death situation."

"Again. That's why you ended up with the damn thing last time."

Sam opened his mouth but his response died on his lips as he thought about it. "The attacks on us have been escalating recently. Cas, could that be Gabriel's game plan? Is making me a Bearer the equivalent of putting a great big target on my back?"

Cas cocked his head to the side, puzzled. "You are the destined vessel of Lucifer, you already have a target on your back." Sam rolled his eyes, he wished people would stop pointing that out. "But no, if anything, by making you his Bearer Gabriel has afforded you powerful protection. To anyone who can see your status and actually takes the time to look," Sam smirked, Cas being sarcastic about the idiots who followed Zachariah was awesome, "It should be a considerable deterrent, even if you do not summon it and reveal whose Sword it is."

"So, if he doesn't summon it nobody can tell whose it is? Gabriel didn't sign his soul graffiti?" Dean asked, a mixture of amused and disappointed. "Sam doesn't have 'property of Gabriel' written across his insides?"

Cas raised an eyebrow at him. "No more than you bearing my mark means you have 'property of Castiel' written across yours."

Sam folded in half, bracing his hands on his thighs, his hysterical laughter making it impossible to stay upright. Recalling Cas' smugly amused look he thought Gabriel would be proud of his little brother.

~*~

Following Sam around was...an experience. Gabriel hadn't been exposed to this many of his brothers since he'd skipped out of Heaven and gone pagan. The fact that most of them were then quickly dispatched by Sam's hand and Gabriel's Sword hurt, but not as much as he'd thought it would.

At some point his perspective had shifted and taken his loyalties along for the ride. Now, as he watched his brothers attack Castiel and the Winchesters, he was starting to wish his brothers a quick defeat. Though he still winced at every blow, from both sides.

Another thing he'd learned was that the Winchester's unfortunate habit of getting temporarily attached to the 'innocent' victims they saved was still very much in evidence. And Gabriel wasn't the only one who'd noticed.

He contemplated the girl currently sitting in the back seat of the Impala, as Dean and Sam drove her back to the town she'd been abducted from. Unfortunately for the boys Cas wasn't with them to notice the angelic tracker imprinted into her soul.

Gabriel was still debating with himself about whether to snap in and inform them of the danger, even though he really didn't want to show himself just yet, when they pulled into a suspiciously empty parking lot. He felt the tracker activate and the angel on the other end of it...

Oh, that was just typical. Damn _Zachariah._

The three of them were out of the Impala now and before Gabriel could decide what to do either way Zachariah had manifested behind the girl and knocked her unconscious at his feet.

"Well, well, what do we have here? The Winchesters somehow, _miraculously,_" the sarcasm Zach put into that word was almost tangible, "Alive, even after I sent five, _five,_ angels to apprehend you. Two pathetic humans and a rebel angel swiftly losing his grace, what advantage could you possibly possess that would allow you to survive that?"

"What did you do to her?" Sam growled.

Zacharaih waved a negligent hand and stepped over the girl, closer to Sam. Gabriel had to resist the urge to step between them. "Calm down, she'll be fine. She-"

He stopped as he took his first proper look at Sam and then laughed. It was a sound that grated on Gabriel's nerves. "A Bearer? Castiel has made you his Bearer? _That's_ the ace up your sleeve? Pathetic. Though admittedly surprising. I'd have assumed, Castiel," Zach turned to address their little brother, who'd appeared in the car park surprisingly soon after Zach had, "That if you still had enough grace to summon your Sword and were idiot enough to make a _human_," He said the word like most people would say 'cockroach', "Your Bearer, you would have bestowed the honour on Dean here. Considering your...weakness for him. But no matter." Zachariah turned back to Sam, "It won't be your protection much longer. The Sword of a graceless little Thursday's angel is nothing compared to mine."

As Zach's Sword appeared in his grasp Gabriel felt the tug on his grace that meant Sam was preparing to summon their Sword and grinned, he couldn't wait to see the smug grin wiped off Zachariah's face. Zach swung and the tug became the snap of connection that accompanied the wielding of his Sword by it's Bearer.

The clash of metal on metal seemed almost deafening and the look of fear that flashed across Zach's face as he realised his mistake was priceless. Sam grinned malevolently.

"Who said anything about Cas' Sword?" Sam swung the Sword at Zachariah in a graceful arc of movement that Gabriel remembered being taught by Michael. Zach just managed to block it and them stumbled back with wide eyes.

"You can't be Gabriel's Bearer. Gabriel is dead!" Zach cried in protest.

_Hey! What?_

"I think he'd take exception to that." Sam said, calmly taking another swing. This time Zach was forced to dive to the side to avoid it, leaving his back to Dean and Cas.

_You're damn right I would. _

"He hasn't been seen in Heaven in millennia." Now Zach sounded desperate, as if he was trying to convince even himself. Behind the two combatants Gabriel saw Cas stealthily toss his angel-blade to Dean, who was further from Zachariah's line of sight.

"Of course not. He's been having a lot more fun down here." The two Sword blades locked and Sam bore down on Zachariah with a satisfied smile. Gabriel watched as Dean pulled back for his killing strike and did absolutely nothing to stop it. He watched the blade plunge into the back of Zachariah's neck and all he felt was relief that none of the others had been hurt.

Gabriel's perspective had shifted, his loyalties had changed and he was pretty sure it was all Sam Winchester's fault.

~*~

Sam was getting seriously fed up of being attacked by angels. According to Cas the sigils scrimshawed into their ribs were still keeping them hidden but somehow the angels kept finding them anyway. It wasn't like Sam wasn't consistently kicking their asses, yet they still kept coming back for more. You'd think they'd have learned after what Team Free Will had done to Zachariah.

Unfortunately, while the angels hadn't learnt when to run, they had learnt when to be sneaky. Apparently it had finally sunk in that announcing their presence and giving Sam time to summon his Sword was a _really bad idea._

It didn't start to hurt until Sam looked down, wondering what the sudden pressure on the centre of his chest was. The hilt of the angel-blade was the only part visible, the rest was buried in Sam's chest. The pain hit him all at once and Sam had to clench his teeth to hold back the whimper that wanted to escape.

The angel wielding the blade smiled maliciously and twisted the knife. It was all Sam could do to hold himself upright against the sharp spear of pain that wanted to force him to his knees.

"So this is the unkillable abomination, the Sword-wielding vessel of Lucifer? Your stolen weapon won't help you if you don't get the chance to draw it, demon-boy." The angel gloated. Sam couldn't banter back, staying upright and silent was taking all his will-power. He was done for, he knew. Dean and Cas weren't here to save him and breathing was like inhaling fire but he wouldn't give this angel the satisfaction of seeing him die curled into a whimpering, pain-filled ball.

"That's what you think." Sam thought he was hallucinating the familiar voice until he caught sight of a flaming blade swinging through the periphery of his vision. The angel barely had time to go wide-eyed before Gabriel's Sword sliced through his neck.

The body fell and Sam would have fallen along with it if Gabriel hadn't caught him, just as his knees finally gave way. In a show of archangelic strength he was lowered carefully to the ground in Gabriel's arms. Sam's vision was blacking out around the edges but Gabriel's face was close enough that the concern in his amber eyes was clear. "Gabriel."

"Hey, Sammy. I'm gonna need to get this blade out of you before I can heal you." Sam stared at him blankly. Why didn't Gabriel just pull it out? For that matter, why did Gabriel even care? "That means you need to let go." A small smile twitched across Gabriel's face, amusement rising for a moment before it was suppressed by worry.

Sam followed Gabriel's gaze as it flicked downwards and after a puzzled moment realised that the hand clenched around the blade's hilt was his own. He didn't remember grabbing hold of it and it took him painful seconds to manage to work his fingers well enough to loosen his grip. Gabriel pulled Sam's hand free entirely and then entwined their fingers together.

Sam was so engrossed staring at their joined hands that he didn't hear Gabriel's whispered, "I'm sorry," or see him take firm hold of the blade embedded in Sam's chest and pull. The immediate, jarring pain made Sam cry out and clench his fingers hard on Gabriel's hand.

Gabriel didn't flinch or pull away, just brought his free hand up to press against the wound. Sam braced himself for more pain but instead coolness sparked along his nerves, numbing his chest but reawakening his uncooperative limbs.

"How do you manage it? Are you magnetised due trouble or something?" Gabriel asked. "I leave you alone for ten minutes at most and you manage to get yourself fatally stabbed. Now that's a skill I bet you wish you didn't have."

Gabriel wasn't making any sense. Sam tried to pull himself together enough to ask, well, he wasn't sure what he was going to ask but 'what the Hell?' seemed like it would cover most of it. What actually came out of his his mouth though was, "You killed an angel for me."

"I did." Gabriel grimaced, "But don't remind me again, okay? Because I'm trying not to think about it."

Sam opened his mouth to say 'thank you' but was distracted, his gaze jerked up over Gabriel shoulder by the sudden appearance of three figures. "Gabriel." He gasped out. "Behind you, look out."

Gabriel was releasing Sam and turning, Sword ready, before Sam had even finished his warning. The transformation was shocking, almost frightening and maybe a little bit amazing. Gabriel didn't hesitate and was soon a whirlwind of movement and flame-covered metal. This wasn't the Gabriel Sam knew; irreverent and full of himself, with a fondness for terrible jokes, bad TV and candy. This was Gabriel, the archangel of a powerful and vengeful God. The angel of Judgement, serious and deadly and very pissed off.

The other angel's didn't stand a chance.

Gabriel stood with his back to Sam, silent, for a long few seconds once he'd won and by the time he was crouching down by Sam again, the Gabriel Sam knew was back behind his eyes. Though his gaze was warmer than Sam had seen before. The hand returned to Sam's wound, the healing mojo once again sparking along his nerves.

"So, I probably shouldn't remind you of that bit just now either, huh?"

Gabriel wouldn't meet his eyes. "I'd appreciate it." Sam fumbled around until he found Gabriel's free hand and entwined their fingers together again.

"Gabriel." He said, squeezing Gabriel's hand in his, waiting to continue until Gabriel looked him in the eyes. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well. Can't have you dying on me, not when we're having so much fun with the whole Sword thing." Before Sam could ask about that, because seriously, Gabriel owed him a pretty huge explanation of 'the whole Sword thing' Gabriel had pulled his hand away from Sam's wound, from where Sam's wound had been and in another show of inhuman strength, yanked Sam to his feet. "There we go, good as new. Now for Dad's sake try to be more careful, okay? The Sword's no good if you're not paying attention and I can't come running to your rescue every time." He wiggled his fingers at Sam in farewell and then he was just gone, vanished back into thin air with a snap.

Sam stared at the place where he was for a good few minutes before he managed to shake the perplexed astonishment. He looked at his watch and swore, taking off in a run. He was late, Dean would be wondering where the Hell he'd got to.

~*~

How his little brother and the Winchesters had managed to survive for so long without him looking after them Gabriel would never know. At least this time it wasn't angel ass he had to kick from here to scattered atoms. He would have thought Castiel could handle a few demons (okay, so it was more like half a dozen, but still) by himself, but no. Gabriel had to step in and save the day _again._

"You're hopeless, you know that right?" His brother was sprawled on the floor where one of the demons had flung him, Gabriel offered him a hand up. "I don't even want to know how you managed to get into this mess." Castiel accepted his hand and Gabriel jerked him to his feet.

"Maybe you can offer me some enlightenment on that score, Brother." Ooh, Cas was pissed, that was his do-not-mess-with-me voice. Gabriel was kind of impressed that he had the balls to use it on an archangel. "The attacks on us have increased exponentially since you made Sam your Bearer."

"You think I'm trying to get you guys killed?" Gabriel asked, incredulous. Okay, so historically it might have been a good guestimate of his intentions but things were different now.

"I think it is likely that you're playing towards an end game of your own devising and that we are just pawns to you." Castiel clenched his fists.

"You're getting better at your metaphors, I'll give you that, but your reasoning is screwed. I've been saving your sorry asses. Why would I do that, at great risk to myself, if I wanted you dead?"

Castiel's face was blank as he spoke. Gabriel wondered if Dean had taught him poker yet, he'd probably be awesome at bluffing if he ever managed to understand the point of it. "Helping us survive these attacks, which you brought on us in the first place, could be a ruse to gain our trust." It was a wonderfully cynical argument, obviously spending time around the Winchesters had knocked some of the shine off Castiel's naivety.

"Huh, you're not as stupid as your obsession with Dean would suggest. It's still not a feasible scenario though. If I was your enemy I never would have made Sam my Bearer."

Castiel frowned at him. "My obsession with Dean?" Of course, that would be the bit he'd focus on, rather than Gabriel's wonderfully persuasive argument.

"Oh, come on. Anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together could tell that you're totally ass over elbows for him." Gabriel huffed out his annoyance and dragged himself back on track to his intended goal of trying to persuade Castiel he was sincere.

"But that's not important right now. What's important is that you understand that while making Sam my Bearer attracted a lot of attention to you from upstairs and down below it also gave you a weapon considerably more powerful than anything you had before." What he didn't say was: _which you need because I hate to break it to you, little Brother, but you don't have enough grace left anymore to keep Sam and Dean safe or keep yourself hidden._

"And anyway, Sammy dying right now would be really bad for my mental state." Gabriel took a deep breath, some human habits were hard to break, and continued. "_And_ for the purposes of the earlier analogy neither Luci nor the boys upstairs have more than two brain cells to rub together and have therefore decided that the Sword Sam's Bearing must be yours. Which is totally stupid because if you _could_ manifest your Sword you'd never give to anyone but Dean, so..." Gabriel trailed off, aware that that had been quite a spectacular rant even for him.

Castiel had tilted his head and was looking at him in fascination, it was unnerving. "You are in love with Samuel Winchester." It wasn't a question. Gabriel gaped at him for a long second because how the Hell had Castiel figured that out? Gabriel had only just figured that out for himself and he'd made damn sure he wasn't broadcasting it, so even if Cas had had enough grace left to tune into Gabriel's personal archangel radio, he shouldn't have known.

He pulled himself together and sneered. "That's all you have to say?"

Castiel frowned at him, "Was choosing him as your Bearer accidental?"

Gabriel sagged, this was ridiculous, but lying wouldn't help his cause any. Not with Castiel. "I don't like you when you're perceptive."

"I would not necessarily say perceptive. Maybe, that I have more than two brain cells to rub together?" Castiel smiled at him with fond amusement. That was unnerving too; to be made to feel like a child by a little brother so much younger and less powerful than him.

Gabriel snapped himself up an armchair and flopped into it. Chin in hands he stared at Castiel who hadn't moved, hadn't even flinched at the finger-snap. With his other hand Gabriel drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair as he contemplated his brother.

"Okay, yes. Yes, it was an accident." He snapped up another chair. Castiel sunk into it gracefully, with an annoyingly satisfied smile on his face.

"Why did you not come to us directly once you realised what had happened, instead of helping us from the sidelines? It cannot be your reluctance to kill our brothers, I know you killed Taharial, Raziel, Bariel and Oriel in order to save Sam."

"Yeah, and like I told him, I'm trying not to think about it." Gabriel sighed. "And you were right, I was waiting for an opportunity to gain your trust but not for the reason you think."

"Dean still doesn't trust you."

"That really doesn't surprise me."

"But Sam does." Gabriel froze, trying to keep the surge of joy that rushed through him from showing on his face or in his grace. Judging by the indulgent smile he got from Castiel he didn't manage it. "And so do I."

This time Gabriel did smile because accompanying the declaration had been a flare of grace, terrifyingly tiny but there none the less. It had been so long since any of his brothers had reached out to him like that, that even the dying flame of Castiel's grace was like oasis in the desert of millennia.

He reached out with his own, long caged grace and wrapped it around Castiel's, cradling his almost fallen brother. Castiel, who had frozen at the first touch of grace on grace, now let out a shaky breath.

"Thank you."

Gabriel laughed happily, "No, thank you Brother. I only wish I could do more." He took anther look inside Castiel's grace. "I can't restore you. I can't even stop you from falling further, just stop it hurting so much as you do."

"I have resigned myself to it. I made my choice knowing what would likely happen to me."

"How noble." Gabriel said distractedly, he'd found something, rummaging around in Castiel's grace. Now he poked at it. Castiel's Sword materialised in his lap.

Castiel made a startled sound. Gabriel sat up straight and grinned, "Hah! I knew it was still in there somewhere." Cas picked it up and stared at it. "You won't be able to manifest it by yourself, of course, but if you had a Bearer..." Gabriel let the sentence trail off meaningfully.

Castiel moved the Sword out of his sight line so he could stare at Gabriel instead. "You think I should make Dean my Bearer."

Gabriel snorted. "I think in your state you'd have a Hell of a time giving it someone else to Bear. Even if you could find someone on our side, ol'Dean-o has wormed his way so far into your head that you probably couldn't create the necessary link with anyone else even if you tried."

Castiel's gaze shifted off Gabriel and into the middle-distance, Gabriel could practically see the wheels turning in his brother's head. After a few silent minutes Castiel gave a decisive nod. "What do I need to do?"

Gabriel clapped his hands together, "Well, it's pretty simple actually." Cas interrupted calmly.

"It would have to be for you to have achieved it by accident."

Gabriel glared and ignored him. "It's all a matter of concentration. A bit like how you'd banish it, except instead of just sending it away somewhere you need to send it to Dean."

Castiel frowned in concentration and then closed his eyes. It took over five minutes but eventually the Sword vanished from Castiel's grip. When he opened his eyes again he was smiling, a rare expression for Cas. "He has got it. I can feel it."

"Awesome. Well done little Bro." Gabriel prepared to get up from his wonderfully squishy armchair. "I'd love to stay for the party but-" He was cut off by Castiel's phone ringing.

When Cas answered it there was a burst of noise that sounded a lot like Dean Winchester shouting. Castiel raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "Yes Dean." There was another louder burst of noise. "Yes Dean." More noise that sounded suspiciously like profuse amounts of swearing then the click of Dean hanging up. Castiel looked across at Gabriel with such a serenely innocent expression that in that moment Gabriel could have suspected him of anything. "It may have been prudent to ascertain Dean's whereabouts before sending him my Sword."

Gabriel folded over laughing and then, once he'd gained enough control over himself to look up at Castiel's face, descended into hysterics again at the sly smugness in his brother's eyes. He did eventually get control of himself enough to lever himself to his feet and clap Cas on the shoulder. "You're my favourite brother."

Castiel stood as well, cocking his head to one side. Gabriel snapped the chairs out of existence and avoided looking him in the eye. "Gabriel." Castiel hesitated, "You could come with me, back to Dean and Sam." He finally offered.

Gabriel smiled at him sadly, "Not yet, Brother. Not yet." And snapped himself away.

~*~

_"Sam! Get down!"_

Sam had been programmed practically since birth to obey that order, given in a familiar voice, on instinct, without hesitation or question. So it wasn't until he'd already thrown himself flat on the ground, in time to hear the whistle of a thrown knife go flying over his head, that he realised the familiar voice hadn't been Dean's or even Cas', it had been Gabriel's. More worrying than that was that he hadn't heard it with his ears, it had been shouted straight into his brain.

Sam lunged forward in the direction the knife had gone, deciding to worry about when he wasn't fighting for his life. His hand closed over the hilt and in one quick moved he rolled behind a nearby sofa for cover, came up to his knees and flung the blade. The witch, who'd been in the middle of drawing another knife to throw, looked down at the hilt protruding from her chest for one endless second before she collapsed.

Sam ducked back down behind the sofa to catch his breath. He didn't really want to go back out there; he hated witches, you never knew if they were the sort who'd have horribly embarrassing curses lying around to fling at unsuspecting hunters. But he needed to find the spell circle they'd been using and disabling it.

He steeled himself and peered over the top of the sofa. There was no-one in sight, though he could hear Dean fighting in the next room, so he stood up, preparing to make a run for the door.

"I really wouldn't..." A hand grabbed his arm and yanked him back down just a stray burst of gun fire sprayed across the space where Sam had been standing. "...do that if I were you."

Sam looked up from where he'd ended up sprawled on the floor into Gabriel's face. "Hi Gabriel."

"You don't sound surprised." Gabriel frowned down at him.

"I'm getting used to you popping in just in time to save my life." Sam scrambled up into a crouch and grinned at Gabriel's annoyance. He schooled his expression and said seriously "I hate to break it to you but you're getting predictable."

"You'd rather I leave you to die occasionally to spice up the routine?" Raised eyebrows displayed Gabriel's incredulity. Sam lost his battle to keep a straight face and snorted, riling Gabriel up was fun. It earned him rolled eyes. "No-one would believe that I'm the mature one in this relationship."

Sam didn't react to the r-word even though Gabriel's eyes went slightly wide as he caught his slip. He wasn't quite sure why he didn't react, maybe because since Gabriel had made Sam his Bearer there'd been a sort of link between them that Sam could sense. Maybe because Sam had always been sort of attracted to the archangel, since way back before he knew who Gabriel really was. Instead, he tried out something that he wasn't sure would work. _"That's because you're not."_

Gabriel jerked and raised his eyebrows, actually looking marginally impressed. _"Are you trying to distract me from that horrendous lie by showing off how ridiculously quickly you're grasping the whole telepathy thing?"_

_"Of course." _Sam tilted his head with a proud grin and then wondered if telepathy was the source of that particular part of angel body language.

_"That's my clever Sammy."_ Sam hit him.

"We are in the middle of a hunt, you know." He said reproachfully, defaulting to speaking out loud.

"I know." Gabriel said with faked injured innocence. "The active ritual site is in the attic, by the way. You'll need to move a bookcase to get at the door to it."

Sam blinked at him. "Okay then. Thanks." He peered over the top of the sofa, listening for the sound of gunshots. "Now all I need to know is if it's safe to move yet."

Once Gabriel had helped him to dismantle the magic circle, taking care of several nasty curses along the way, Sam finally plucked up the courage to ask a question that had been praying on his mind. He placed a hand on Gabriel's arm to get his attention.

"So, I know you told Cas 'not yet' when he asked you if you wanted to join us, but why? Is there something you need to do first or is it just Dean? Because me and Cas are prepared to vouch for you so he can just deal."

"As touching as that is, and it is, very touching, there is actually something I need to complete before I sign on to Team Free Will," he paused and then asked, as an aside, "Why did you let Dean come up with the name, by the way? It was bound to be awful and unimaginative," before continuing, a bit confusingly, "Permanently. I'm calling in a favour that will keep all of us hidden."

Sam's hand automatically went to his chest, above where Cas' had scrimshawed the sigils on his ribs, "But-"

"I know, but my brothers are getting sneakier and anyway, the sigils won't work for me and Castiel. Unfortunately, little Bro doesn't have the grace anymore to keep himself hidden and if I do it the power I used would attract more attention than our presence would in the first place." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it. Sam resisted the urge to take his own fingers to it and straighten it out again. "There's a difference between the power of a pagan god and the power of an archangel. If I start using the latter without proper protection I'm going to get a lot of unwanted attention from upstairs."

"But once you've done that, you'll come find us? You'll stay with us?" Sam had to ask, even though it was embarrassing and he could practically see Gabriel being all smug and smirky and teasing about it later. Surprisingly though, right then Gabriel just smiled.

"Yeah Sam, I'll come find you. Couldn't keep me away if you tried." He reached up, ruffled Sam's hair and then was gone in a snap before Sam even had the time to think about batting his hand away. Leaving Sam to stand and wonder whether, if given time to think, he would have even wanted to.

~*~

The three of them were sequestered in a motel room and Sam was trying to do research, but he kept getting distracted. He'd clicked on the same link three times while going through his search engine results and he hadn't even noticed the third time until he was halfway down the page.

He gave in with a silent sigh and concentrated. _"Gabriel? Can you hear me?"_

The response was almost immediate and came with a weird burst of static that Sam somehow knew to interpret as startled pleasure at hearing Sam's voice that quickly changed to suspicion and something like jealousy before it cut off. _"Sam! Have you been practising?"_

_"What, telepathy? Who would I practice with?"_ Sam focused on the strange staticy connection and tried to convey amusement. He wasn't sure if he managed it but then he wasn't sure how any of this was working at all.

_"Okay, show off,"_ the static became fake annoyance, hiding amusement, _"I've got the idea. You're a natural."_

_"When you've been precognitive and telekinetic, telepathic is nothing."_ This time he could feel his bitterness translated along the static link without him wanting it to be.

_"Sam..."_ Concern, Gabriel was concerned about him.

_"Why the Hell do you care about me all of a sudden? Because I'm your Bearer?" _His fingers clenched on the edges of his laptop and he glared blankly at the screen.

"_No, you're my Bearer because I-"_ He cut himself off. Sam's eyes widened, _oh,_ that was, that was kind of amazing actually. He made sure that most of the emotional static he was sending was amusement at Gabriel's embarrassment and resolved to start flirting in earnest.

_"Really, so is giving someone your Sword the angel equivalent of asking a girl to wear your letterman jacket?"_ Sam asked flippantly, happiness suffusing the tone of his mental voice.

"_You do realise you just cast yourself the girl in that metaphor?" _Gabriel was smirking, Sam could just tell. So Sam rolled his eyes pointedly and hoped the emotional static was up to the task of conveying his expression just as well. Gabriel laughed so he figured it must be. _"I suppose that just makes it more accurate."_ Sam wished Gabriel was with him so he could hit him for that. _"It's a bit more serious than that, what with the whole 'once a lifetime' thing but basically, yeah. You've got the general gist."_

Sam frowned, _"What happens when I die then? Does it mean you're allowed visitation rights once I'm in Hell?"_ Anger and fierce protection blasted the resignation he'd just sent swirling through their mutual happy static.

"_You're not going to Hell, I won't let them take you!" _Gabriel was practically roaring in his head and Sam flinched, awestruck. That seemed to quiet the riled archangel because he continued softly. _"There's never been a human Bearer, Sammy, not before you. I don't know what will happen once your human life-span ends but I can guarantee I'll be there. I won't let them take you from me even if it means standing up to Luci, or worse, Dad."_

"_My hero,"_ Sam knew he was smiling sappily, he couldn't help it. Much as he hated the idea of Gabriel having to risk himself for Sam the knowledge that he _would_ fight for him sent Sam's heart soaring. Maybe it was growing up a Winchester that had done it but to Sam there was no greater declaration of love than that.

_"Stop it, you're making me blush."_ Sam's response to that was cut off by Dean.

"Oi, Samantha! Don't think I can't tell what you're doing over there. If you want to have telepathic sex with your archangel boyfriend get a separate room." Sam glared at him. It didn't do any good, Dean just glared back.

Gabriel sent a query through the emotional static, obviously noticing Sam's irritation, and instead of replying in words Sam channelled his ire into the concentration he was using to maintain the link and sent something back that was more like a video clip; showing Gabriel that Dean was being an ass-hole, rather than telling.

_"That was showing off again." _Gabriel's mental voice was amused. _"Leave the hypocrite to discuss his wonderfully phallic new toy with Castiel and come out to the Impala, I'll meet you there."_

Sam grinned and closed his laptop as he got up. Dean frowned at him "Where are you going?"

"To see Gabriel," Sam tossed out calmly, "He says your a hypocrite by the way, and he's right. If I have to put up with all the frustrated eye-fucking you two have going on then you can put up with me just talking." Dean gaped at him and if Sam didn't know his brother better he'd swear Dean actually blushed. Cas suddenly became very interested in the sigil worked on the hilt of his Sword, laid out on the table between them.

Sam's hand was on the doorknob before Dean found his voice again. "Hey, I don't-" Sam turned back and cut him off.

"Have fun kids, if you do anything x-rated while I'm gone I don't want to know about it." He was out the door before Dean could react, laughing to himself and basking in the amused pride he was receiving from Gabriel.

Sam only had to wait, leaning against the Impala, for a few minutes before Gabriel appeared beside him with a huge grin.

"That was just priceless, I bet you could cut the awkwardness in that room with a knife right now." He slouched back next to Sam, their shoulders pressed together.

"They would have got there eventually, I was just being a good brother and giving them a push in the right direction." Sam said innocently. Gabriel was like a furnace against his side, the warmth soaking through Sam's jacket and both shirts to his skin.

Gabriel snorted but didn't say anything. A comfortable silence stretched between them that Sam didn't really want to break, so he didn't.

_"Did you finish calling in that favour?"_ Gabriel looked at him askance, a small smile quirking his lips.

_"Yeah," _he fished out an amulet, carved with intricate symbols that made Sam's eyes hurt, from under his shirt, _"A colleague from my pagan days was good enough to provide me with four of these things."_

Sam raised a suspicious eyebrow, _"When you say 'colleague', you mean a pagan god don't you?"_

_"I know people in high places."_ Gabriel said smugly, wiggling his eyebrows and looking so pleased with himself. Sam really wanted to kiss him in that moment but he resisted.

_"Uh, yeah. The highest." _He replied, trying to radiate a 'not impressed' vibe.

Gabriel scowled, dropping the amulet back into his shirt. _"Let me clarify that, I know people in places who I'm actually on speaking terms with."_ When Sam just laughed he rolled his eyes and dug another amulet out of his pocket. _"This one's yours."_

Sam reached for it but Gabriel pulled it away, instead moving to stand in front of Sam. The sudden loss of warmth made Sam hunch his shoulders but he was soon distracted.

Gabriel was getting taller.

No, Sam looked down, Gabriel was rising off the ground. When his face was level with Sam's he stopped and floated in mid-air.

_"Now who's showing off?"_ Sam asked with fond amusement. Gabriel stepped – floated – stepped closer. It wasn't like floating really, more like he'd raised the bit of ground he was standing on but it was only solid to him.

_"Here," _Gabriel reached out and carefully put the amulet around Sam's neck. Sam looked down, noting that the carvings on his hurt his eyes just as much, and when he looked up Gabriel's face was very close.

Sam looked into eyes now glowing honey-gold and swayed forward slightly without meaning to. His eyes weren't obeying him either and dropped, without his consent, to Gabriel's lips.

"_Sam," _his name was a growl, echoing along their link with a jumbled rush of _lust, mine, beautiful, need, want, mine._ Then Gabriel was kissing him and it was everything Sam had imagined it to be and it was so much better.

Sam slid his fingers into Gabriel's hair and he opened his mouth. It was hot and dirty and perfect. And Sam was really amazingly appreciative of not having to bend down. He'd never really let himself think about the reality of being with Gabriel but the height difference wasn't exactly easy to miss.

Gabriel's teeth bit down on his lower lip and Sam groaned into the kiss, sliding one hand down to Gabriel's waist to pull him closer. He wanted to press against Gabriel skin to skin and touch and kiss every part of him, he wanted-

They were still in the car park...and Gabriel was floating.

In that moment he loved the telepathy a lot. Without breaking the kiss Sam initiated the link. _"What if somebody sees us?"_

_"You're worried about your reputation?"_ Gabriel's hand insinuated itself underneath Sam's t-shirt, the scrape of his nails across Sam's stomach made Sam shudder. _"Considering how ass over elbows your brother is for mine I don't think Dean will mind if he sees."_

_"That's not what I meant. Gabriel-"_ Sam pulled away, "You're fucking floating!" Gabriel didn't look up from where he was now laying biting kisses along the line of Sam's jaw but he did lift his legs and wrap them around Sam's waist. The shift in pressure made Sam groan and buck against him.

_"Is that better?"_ Sam's hand automatically slid underneath Gabriel's thigh even though he obviously didn't need help to stay up.

"Yes," He tipped his head back, giving Gabriel better access to his throat.

_"Good,"_ Gabriel pulled away and looked at him with mischief in his eyes, "So can we go back to making out against the Impala now?"

Sam narrowed his eyes, "Are you only doing this because you know Dean will fucking flip if he finds out?"

Gabriel tipped his head to the side and made a face that Sam associated with the trickster side of his personality. "...not only because of that. Mainly I'm doing it because I've wanted you since pretty much the first time we met, messing with Dean about it later is just a bonus."

Laughing helplessly Sam dragged him back in for another kiss, basking in the feel of Gabriel wrapped around him. When they pulled apart again Sam was breathless and Gabriel's eyes were molten, golden fire.

"Shall we take this somewhere more private?" Gabriel asked, raising his hand ready to snap. All Sam could do was nod, temporarily incoherent in both of their methods of communication.

The snap of Gabriel's fingers took them to what would have looked to Sam like a classy hotel room, if he'd been paying attention. As it was he was only paying attention to the way Gabriel had pushed him down so he was sprawled across the (really comfortable, actually long enough for him) bed and was now crawling up Sam's body with feral intent written across his face.

"Ready to find out just how much fun a telepathy bond can be?" Gabriel asked with a lascivious grin.

"Oh yes." Sam yanked Gabriel down into another kiss, concentrating on the arousal that was bouncing back and forth across their static. A moment later he was arching and gasping as the link suddenly flooded with sensation so intense it almost felt as if he was two people at once.

_"You've been suppressing it."_ Sam said inside their heads once he'd pulled his awareness back inside his own skin as far as he could manage.

_"Of course, it'd be rather distracting if we were this close all the time." _Gabriel settled himself snug against Sam as they kissed.

"_I didn't know it could be this intense."_ Sam wormed his hands in underneath Gabriel's shirt, revelling in the amazing sensation of both touching and being touched.

"_You're my Bearer, there are few ways an angel can bond that are more intimate than that. My Sword isn't just a weapon, Sammy, it's a part of me. Like my wings."_

The mention of wings seemed to give Sam's hands a life of their own, they slid up Gabriel's back without Sam really thinking about it but when they settled over Gabriel's shoulder-blades the rush of sensation through the link thoroughly claimed Sam's focus. Gabriel swore and bucked up into Sam's hands. _"Sam. Fuck, Sam."_

Sam concentrated on smoothing his hands softly over Gabriel's sensitive skin. _"I wish I could see them."_

_"You can."_ Sam pulled away and stared at Gabriel wide-eyed.

_"I'd like to keep my eyes, thanks."_ He tried not to let his hopes rise.

_"Idiot,"_ Gabriel snorted, _"You can wield my Sword without burning up but you think seeing me manifest my wings while still inside my vessel will burn your eyes out? You could probably look at me in my true form without any more damage than spots in front your eyes for an hour or so."_

Sam's fingers drifted across Gabriel's shoulder-blade again, making him gasp. _"So can I see...?"_

Gabriel pushed himself upright with a laugh that turned shuddering as the movement caused Sam's hands to trail the rest of the way back down his back. Sam watched avidly as Gabriel unbuttoned his shirt teasingly slowly. When his bare chest was revealed Sam couldn't keep himself from sliding his hands upwards again, watching his hands skim across Gabriel's skin.

Gabriel finally dropped his shirt and then rolled his shoulders. Through the link, to Sam, it felt like acquiring a limb that he hadn't known was missing. As he watched the spread of light that lanced out from Gabriel's shoulders and coalesced into a huge mass of golden-bronze feathers he could feel them unfurling; the physical sensation just as vivid as the giddy relief of being able to let them spread across the room.

_"Oh, Gabriel,"_ Sam whispered reverentially at the three pairs of wings arching magnificently out of Gabriel's back. He reached out nervously, watching Gabriel for any sign that he should stop. Gabriel smiled at his caution and flicked his top wings forward so feathers brushed across Sam's shoulders. Emboldened by that Sam threw caution to the wind and buried both his hands in at the base of Gabriel's middle wings.

The response was immediate, Gabriel's eyes closed and he writhed in Sam's lap. The feedback through their link, added to the friction Gabriel's movement was causing against his cock was enough to make Sam arch wantonly and fling his head back with a groan.

_"Sam, Sam, need you, need you now."_ Gabriel's mental voice was urgent and demanding.

_"You've got me." _Sam responded and apparently that was the permission Gabriel need to snap his fingers and vanish their clothes. The sudden overwhelming sensation of skin on skin and feathers all around him was almost too much for Sam, who had to pull his hands away from Gabriel's wings far enough to be able to dig his nails into the palms of his hands.

Distracting himself enough to stave off his orgasm had also distracted him from what Gabriel was doing, so when his cock was grasped and positioned against Gabriel's ass it was a surprise.

_"Hey, slow down I think you missed a step there."_

Gabriel gave him the look that said Sam was being an idiot, it was considerably more effective when given with eyes that looked like molten gold by a being with a fifteen foot wingspan. _"Helloooo, archangel."_

Sam rolled his eyes, _"Sorry, I must have missed the verse in the Bible where it said that archangels come pre-lubed."_

Gabriel stared at him for a long silent moment and then attacked his mouth in a fierce kiss with his laughter echoing through Sam's head.

_"You're brilliant, Sam Winchester, and I am never going to let you forget you said that. Now hurry up and fuck me."_ Sam bucked upwards, rubbing his cock along the cleft of Gabriel's ass and then plunged his fingers back into Gabriel's wings.

_"Can you lay on your back with these out?"_ He asked, caressing the feathers beneath his touch.

_"Yes."_

_"Good." _Sam used his grip on Gabriel's wings to flip them over so Gabriel was spread beneath him; hair and feathers ruffled, eyes on fire and staring up at Sam like he was the only person in the world that mattered.

Sam reached down and positioned himself so he could slide slowly inside Gabriel, watching Gabriel's face the whole time. When he was fully inside he stopped, making Gabriel writhe and complain.

_"Sam-my. Move, dammit." _Sam had to clamp down on the link that was feeding him the sensations from both sides, trying to hold himself in check.

"_I won't last long, not with you like this."_ Gabriel just grinned at him and bucked upwards.

_"Fuck. Me."_ Demanding, flicking the tips of his wings up for emphasis.

So Sam did. Pulling out and pushing in hard and fast as he attempted to kiss Gabriel senseless. His hands kneading Gabriel's wings in time to the rhythm of his thrusts. Soon, all too soon, Sam was shaking from pleasure and faltering in his thrusts and Gabriel was writhing beneath him, his wings twitching. Sam felt Gabriel peak as the timing of Sam's thrust against his prostate coincided with Sam's thumbs digging in against the very base of his wings.

The feel of Gabriel's orgasm, against his stomach, around his cock and through the link was enough to send Sam tumbling as well, spilling himself inside Gabriel with a groan. Sam collapsed forward, the energy going out of his limbs.

This time it was Gabriel who turned them over, flicking his wings out from under himself as he settled Sam next him on the bed. Gabriel's wings curled down around them and Sam fell asleep enclosed in a cocoon of bronze feathers.

~*~

When Sam woke up Gabriel was using him as a writing desk.

The archangel was curled around Sam's body, the sheet tangled around his waist so Sam had an uninterrupted view down the long line of Gabriel's back to the curve of his ass. At some point while Sam slept he'd put his wings away.

He was leaning over the notebook he'd got spread open against Sam's chest, scribbling furiously with an old fashioned fountain pen; there were ink splashes dotting his hands and Sam's skin. Gabriel finished his sentence and looked up, his eyes were back to their normal amber but bright with triumph. He had an ink smudge on his nose.

"I have just had the most brilliant idea." Gabriel crowed, smugly, "I know how we can trap Luci back in his box."

Sam stared at him, sleepily bemused. "Great. Does it have to be implemented right this second?"

"Well, of course not." Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"Then it can wait till later. I'm not going back to that motel room until I'm absolutely sure I'm not about to walk in on something that'll scar me for life." Sam reached out and dragged Gabriel up to kiss him, confiscating his notebook and pen while he was distracted, "I'm going back to sleep, you stop using me as a writing desk."

Sam snuggled back into down into the wonderfully comfortable bed, pulling Gabriel in close and fell asleep to the sound of Gabriel's laughter echoing in his ears and the feeling of Gabriel's joyful happiness, as fierce as his own, warming him through their link.

**Author's Note:**

> When I first posted this cliche fluff-fest of a fic three and a half years ago I never would have believed that it would be as popular as it seems to have become. And although I haven't written anything for the last few years (grad school *shakes fist*) I'm glad that people are still reading and enjoying this fic. 
> 
> So thank you, all you wonderful people who leave kudos and comments and come back to read it again or even just manage to get through it once. I love you all &lt;3 
> 
> -Evo (obsessionswitchboard.tumblr.com) - February 2014

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] omni gladio ancipiti](https://archiveofourown.org/works/558881) by [kalakirya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalakirya/pseuds/kalakirya)




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